Coming out from a long trek through the jungle trail in Palawan, I finally caught sight of the underground river’s mouth. There were no crowds of tourists around, only me the boatman, who was intently anticipating my arrival for the guided tour of the subterranean marvel. From the dock, we swept across the tranquil waters going to the cave portal and drifted even further. The cave became increasingly dimmer as if the daylight were avoiding getting too deep inside the inner chambers. We continued our voyage until everything went … pitch black.
The ghastly solace inside the underground river reminded me of tales from Greek mythology, particularly descriptions of the River Styx, which divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. The darkness, calm waters, eerie echoing sounds, and otherworldly rock formations made it easy to imagine as if I were being ferried by Charon on his ubiquitous paddle boat to the land of Hades. Like the hero Aeneas, who saw many illusions while crossing the river styx, the boatman pointed out peculiar cave formations, which resembled real life things from fruits, vegetables, everyday items to human figures, and religious scenes.
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